Operation Turkey
by justanoutlaw
Summary: David, Snow, Ruby and Henry plan out Emma's first real Thanksgiving with their whole family.


I reblogged a prompt list on Tumblr with a bunch of different domesticity situations. Loboselinaistrash requested #20: Red Snowing for Thanksgiving. I've set this as an AU for season 2, in which Ruby, Snow and David didn't find out that Neal was Henry's father until they came back.

* * *

" _It's a good thing we don't have Thanksgivings in our land, because that dinner would suck."_

It was a joke, one made under shock. When Emma had come off that boat with a strange man in tow, they didn't know what to think. Neal was Henry's father, which meant that they were all related to Rumpelstiltskin in some way. At the time, they still had some odd feelings for him, being related to Regina was weird enough as it was.

In time, though, things had changed. Ruby, Snow and David had gotten closer with both Henry's adoptive grandmother and his grandfather, not to mention his father as well. Things weren't always happy, in fact there would always be squabbling, but they were still a family and wouldn't have it any other way.

What they didn't realize was that Emma had overheard David's words about Thanksgivings. The truth was, in Storybrooke, they didn't have that holiday over the curse. Regina had only incorporated the ones they had in the Enchanted Forest, modernizing them however she could. Henry had read about it, though, and he wanted to have it.

"Come on, Mom, it'd be so much fun. We could have a big dinner at Granny's," he said.

Emma shook her head. "I don't think your grandparents would be okay with it, at least not your Grandpa David."

"Gramps loves holidays, he always goes all out for them."

"I once heard him say that Thanksgiving would suck," Emma said, not wanting him to know the full version of that sentence, she felt it wouldn't help. "Look, I'd like to have one, I never had a real Thanksgiving growing up. I just don't think it's their thing, kid."

Little did she know, Ruby had been listening in on the conversation as she had come up to tell them that dinner was close to being ready. She turned on the stairs and headed back down to the kitchen. Snow looked up from the roast she had pulled out of the oven.

"Weren't you getting Emma and Henry?"

"I was." She turned to David. "You screwed up."

David raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Do you remember what you said about Thanksgiving, after Neal came to Storybrooke?"

"Um…no."

"You said dinners with the whole family would suck. At the time, I thought it was funny, but it turns out our daughter overheard. She always wanted to have a Thanksgiving, but now she thinks you don't want one."

David tilted his head back, shutting his eyes. He had said those things out of shock. How many people would react well to finding out that the Dark One was their son's other grandfather? That the man who had abandoned his daughter was back in her life? Of course now he liked both Rumple and Neal. He hadn't ever meant for Emma to overhear.

"We need to fix this," he said.

"How?" Snow asked.

Henry's voice came from the kitchen doorway. "Operation Turkey," he said. His grandparents looked up in surprise. "Don't worry, Mom is still upstairs, she didn't hear a thing. We can plan the best Thanksgiving for her."

Ruby grinned and ruffled his hair. "I like the way you think, kiddo. But we don't know much about Thanksgiving."

"I have a plan for that too."

The next day when Emma headed out to the station, Henry sat his three grandparents down. He held up a bunch of tapes. Snow took them, studying the sides.

"FRIENDS, Will and Grace, How I Met Your Mother, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Charlie Brown…what are all of these?"

"Some of the best Thanksgiving specials," Henry explained. "We can learn a lot about the holiday from these."

David beamed. "That's a great idea."

They marathoned the tapes, with Snow insisting on taking notes of course. They did find it funny that one of the How I Met Your Mother episodes included an actress that looked very much like Emma. They got a few good recipes, though Snow and Ruby promised not to make any trifles like Rachel did in FRIENDS. David found the meal in Charlie Brown the best and felt that Emma would like a dinner of popcorn, pretzel sticks, toast and jellybeans, only to get shot down.

Henry was in charge of the guest list. He invited Regina, Rumple, Belle, Neal and many of the other residents of Storybrooke. Ruby got Granny to agree to shut the diner down for the afternoon, since they couldn't fit everyone into the loft. Snow and Ruby told her they'd help her cook the meal and would provide a lot of the food. David was given the shopping list and he headed to the store, grabbing everything they would need. Luckily, despite the town not celebrating, they had a lot of the usual Thanksgiving treats. As he was heading out, he got an idea…

Emma woke up on Thanksgiving morning, feeling as though it was just another day, as it always was. There had been a few homes that actually celebrated, but didn't allow her to take part in the festivities. She knew her father's feelings on the holiday and wasn't about to make him feel uncomfortable. After changing into a comfy sweater and some jeans, she headed downstairs. Henry was on the couch with David, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was on the television. She did her best not to give him a scolding look.

"What's this?"

"Seems like a parade," David said. "You guys seem to have these for every holiday."

Emma shrugged. "It's tradition."

"Have you ever been to one, Mom?" Henry asked.

"Once, when I lived in New York City. It was okay."

"Maybe we could go to one, one year," David suggested.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, it looks like fun. Look at that, a Garfield balloon, that's my favorite comic."

Emma couldn't help but smile a bit as she sat down next to her dad. She almost didn't notice that her moms weren't in the loft. That was until she looked around and didn't see them anywhere.

"Where's Mom and Mama?" She asked.

"They had to help Granny with something," David said. "We'll head down there later for lunch, I'm sure you could use a grilled cheese."

"Sounds good," Emma said with a slight nod.

Once the parade was over, David and Henry went to change. When they were done, they headed down to the diner. Emma noticed that it was pretty packed, with Regina's Mercedes and Rumple's Cadillac in the parking lot. Maybe she could convince them to have a family lunch, even if it wasn't an official Thanksgiving meal…

She walked inside the diner and her mouth dropped open. There was a large table set up with all the typical Thanksgiving foods: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. There was even Regina's famous lasagna. On the counter were various pies and cookies. Everyone seemed to be in the diner from Regina and Neal to Rumpelstiltskin and Belle. Even Nova and Leroy were there along with Geppetto, August and Archie.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Snow exclaimed, walking over and wrapping her arms around Emma.

"I…I don't understand," she sputtered out. "I didn't think…"

"We're in this realm now," Ruby pointed out.

"Plus, any excuse to eat turkey," Neal joked with a grin.

Emma couldn't believe it. The entire crazy family tree was present. She had never had a meal with this many people, let alone a Thanksgiving dinner. Everything smelt absolutely delicious. Ruby wrapped an arm around her and lead her over to her seat at the table. Everyone dug into the magnificent feast that was prepared. Emma had never tasted a turkey that had tasted so good. She even agreed to eat some of the vegetables, everything was delicious. She wasn't sure if it was her mothers' and grandmother's cooking, or just the fact that they were all there together. They all talked, bickered and laughed, sharing stories from over the years.

After dessert, Emma felt it was time to take a break. She loved hanging out with everyone, but it was still a bit overwhelming. She headed outside as the sun was setting and settled down onto one of the chairs. She heard the door open behind her, followed by her father's voice.

"Too full for one more meal?" He asked.

Emma turned around and found him holding a paper plate filled with jelly beans, toast, pretzel sticks and popcorn. "Charlie Brown." She grinned. "Let me guess, Henry had you watched it?"

"I happened to like it," David said, sitting next to her and setting it down.

"I grew up watching it." She popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "I used to envision a meal like that. As much as I loved the turkey and all, I think this is my favorite."

"I'm glad." David was quiet for a moment as he munched on a jelly bean. "I just wanted to apologize."

"Apologize? For what? This day has been amazing."

"I know you overheard what I said about Thanksgiving when Neal came here."

"Dad…"

"Look, Em, at the time, I was caught off guard. For a while, I had been the only man in Henry's life. Suddenly, he had not just his father, but another grandpa. Plus, I didn't know either of them very well. Neal had hurt you, I didn't want him to do that again. We just barely trusted Regina. I couldn't picture us having a meal together," he explained. He gave her a soft smile. "You changed my feelings about that."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "I did?"

"Emma, you're such a good person. You always want to give people a second chance. You stood up for Regina when no one else would. Heck, even with me."

"What about you?"

"During the curse, you gave me the benefit of the doubt. You trusted that I hadn't hurt Abigail. You felt the same about your mother. Even with your mama, she told me how you gave her a job when she quit Granny's. You believe in others, you're a true hero."

Emma felt herself blushing, still not used to such praise. She leaned into him and he wrapped an arm around her.

"Maybe it's genetic. After all, I'm the daughter of three amazing ones."

"Your moms, but me…"

"Dad, you risked your life for all of us, several times, myself included. You're my hero. The weird thing is, when I was younger, the Prince Charming from Disney's Snow White was too. I guess the whole time I knew the truth."

David beamed, kissing the top of her head. Emma let out a deep breath, feeling very content. Little did they know that Henry, Ruby and Snow were watching from the window with a smile. Operation Turkey had been a success.

* * *

As always, I do accept prompts! Whether it be on here or my Tumblrs: just-an-outlaw and justanoutlawfanfiction.


End file.
